“There’s been a lot of talk about it since Talladega,” said Craven, now an ESPN racing commentator. “Wherever I go people want to talk about it. That finish became my legacy.”

Craven, at Nashville Superspeedway to work the Nationwide Series race over the weekend, is in his fourth season with ESPN, calling a limited number of races.

He suffered post-concussion syndrome after a crash at Texas Speedway and ran his

Ricky Craven's racing career is defined by 0.002 seconds. (Photo courtesy of ESPN)

final race in 2005.

“You have a window of opportunity and I’m thankful for the opportunities I had,” he said. “I knew it was time to step away. The tank was empty.”

Craven said he enjoys his second career as a racing commentator.

“I spent 25 years behind the wheel and I can bring the viewer inside the race car,” he said. “I’ve also been on both sides of the mic (microphone). As a former driver I know when it’s a good time to approach a driver to talk to him. If a driver is busy, let him finish what he’s doing, or come back another time. Sometimes folks don’t seem to understand that.’

Craven, 44, maintains a house in his home state of Maine but his primary residence is in Concord, N.C.

He can clearly recall the frantic finish at Darlington that made him famous.

“It had actually started about three laps before,” he said. “Kurt and I had been banging on each other and when I finally took the lead I thought, ‘I’ve this thing.’ But I underestimated Kurt. He came right back on me, and we were banging side-by-side as he headed to the finish line. When we flashed across the line I had no idea who’d won.”

Video of that furious finish is in the NASCAR Hall of Fame, along with Craven’s car.

“At the time I really didn’t think much about it – other than the fact that I’d won a big race on a famous track,” Craven said. “But as the years went by and the finish stood as a record, it became a bigger deal.”

Now the record no longer stands alone. Craven shares it with Jimmie Johnson.

“That’s OK, I’ve still got a piece of it,” Craven said with a smile. “It’s something I’ll always remember — and maybe be remembered for.”

That is one classy guy as well as , in my opinion, the best NASCAR commentator on TV. He also had another very exciting victory over Dale Jarret at Martinsville, which is often overlooked because of the Darlington win. I crave for some of the other TV people too watch and learn from his exceptional commentary, intelligent, articulate,and of course humble. DW, are you listening?